All Topics  
Luk thung

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Luk thung
 
 
  Topics Luk thung Topic Home

Luk Thung (; lit. "child/children of the fields") refers to the most popular form of a style of music
Music of Thailand

The music of Thailand reflects its geographic positionat the intersection of China, India, Indonesia and Cambodia, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Rome....
 found in Thailand. The term is short for pleng luk thung (; lit. "song of a child of the fields").

Luk Thung songs typically reflect the hardship of everyday life among the rural poor. Tempo
Tempo

In musical terminology, 'tempo' is the speed or pace of a given musical piece. It is an extremely crucial element of composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece....
s tend to be slow, and singers use an expressive singing style with a lot of vibrato
Vibrato

Vibrato is a musical effect, produced in singing and on musical instruments by a regular pulsating change of pitch , and is used to add expression and vocal-like qualities to instrumental music....
. Comparisons are sometimes made with country music
Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
 of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
.

The form developed in the first half of the 20th century, although the term luk thung was first used in the 1960s.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Luk thung'
Start a new discussion about 'Luk thung'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Luk Thung (; lit. "child/children of the fields") refers to the most popular form of a style of music
Music of Thailand

The music of Thailand reflects its geographic positionat the intersection of China, India, Indonesia and Cambodia, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Rome....
 found in Thailand. The term is short for pleng luk thung (; lit. "song of a child of the fields").

Luk Thung songs typically reflect the hardship of everyday life among the rural poor. Tempo
Tempo

In musical terminology, 'tempo' is the speed or pace of a given musical piece. It is an extremely crucial element of composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece....
s tend to be slow, and singers use an expressive singing style with a lot of vibrato
Vibrato

Vibrato is a musical effect, produced in singing and on musical instruments by a regular pulsating change of pitch , and is used to add expression and vocal-like qualities to instrumental music....
. Comparisons are sometimes made with country music
Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
 of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
.

The form developed in the first half of the 20th century, although the term luk thung was first used in the 1960s. Ponsri Woranut
Ponsri Woranut

Ponsri Woranut is a Thailand musician. She first became a star in the 1950s, practicing music in the style of luk thung. Woranut melded the style of traditional Thai folk music to music from outside the region, including various genres of East Asian music, Latin American music, and American country music and film music....
 and Suraphol Sombatcharoen
Suraphol Sombatcharoen

Suraphol Sombatcharoen was a Thai people luk thung singer. Dubbed the "King of Luk Thung", he was one of the first major stars of Thailand's own country music genre....
 were the genre's first big stars, incorporating influences from Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
, Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
, Malaysia
Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
 and, especially, American film soundtrack
Soundtrack

The term soundtrack refers to three related concepts: recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; and the physical area of a film that contains the synchronized recorded so...
s and country music
Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
 (including yodelling). Many of the most popular luk thung stars have come from the central city of Suphanburi
Suphanburi

Suphan Buri is a town in central Thailand, capital of the Suphan Buri Province. It covers the whole tambon Tha Philiang and parts of the tambon Rua Yai and Tha Rahat, all within the Amphoe Mueang Suphanburi....
, including megastar Pumpuang Duangjan
Pumpuang Duangjan

Pompuang Duangjan was one of the most important luk thung vocalists in Thailand. The child of rural peasants, she first drew attention in the late '70s....
, who adapted it to 1980s string (Thai pop)
String (Thai pop)

String is a genre of Music of Thailand roughly equivalent to western Pop music. Its origins lie in American Rhythm and blues, surf rock artists like The Ventures and Dick Dale, Exotica, rockabilly and country and western brought to Thailand by American and Australian soldiers serving in Vietnam in the late 1950s and early 1960s....
 music by making a dance
Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dance. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement....
-ready form called electronic luk thung. When Pompuang died in 1992, many observers felt that luk thung would die with her. It survived, however, and with the advent of the first all luk thung radio station in 1997 soon saw a major revival.

Since the 1990s there has been much cross-fertilisation between luk thung, string and mor lam
Mor lam

Mor lam is an ancient Lao form of song in Laos and Isan.Mor lam means expert song, or expert singer, referring to the music or artist respectively....
 music. String artists have taken to singing luk thung songs, while luk thung singers have increasingly been promoted like pop singers, with an emphasis on youth and looks. The mor lam influence has produced a new genre called luk thung Isan or luk thung prayuk, which incorporates the faster rhythm
Rhythm

Rhythm is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events....
s of mor lam.

See also

  • Music of Thailand
    Music of Thailand

    The music of Thailand reflects its geographic positionat the intersection of China, India, Indonesia and Cambodia, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Rome....
  • Monrak luk thung
    Monrak luk thung

    Monrak luk thung is a 1970 musical film-comedy film-romance film directed by Rungsri Tassanapuk and starring Mitr Chaibancha and Petchara Chaowarat....
  • Luk Krung
    Luk krung

    Luk krung may refer to:*luk kreung, a word for interracial Thais*luk grung, a genre of Thai popular music...

External links

  • Many Luk Thung radio stations